The claim follows one of the deadliest days for foreigners in Afghanistan since a US-led invasion pushed the Taliban regime from power in 2001, sparking the insurgency that is becoming deadlier by the month.

Five Canadians, including a woman journalist, were killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb -- the Taliban weapon of choice -- exploded beneath their armoured vehicle in a southern militant stronghold.

The attacks came as the number of US and NATO-led foreign troops is set to soar to 150,000 to try to halt an increasingly virulent Taliban insurgency that has made 2009 the bloodiest year for international forces since the invasion.

Military officials have warned that with more troops will come more attacks -- and more casualties.

"We claim responsibility for the attack," purported Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The US government said eight Americans were killed in the attack on a military base in Khost province on Wednesday.

The Taliban spokesman however claimed the attack killed 16 Americans.

The Islamist militia, which has been fighting for eight years to overthrow the Western-backed Afghan government and eject foreign troops from Afghanistan, routinely exaggerate claims about the losses their attacks inflict.

"Yesterday evening on a base near the old airport in Khost city a suicide bomber by the name of Samiullah committed a suicide attack by detonating his vest and killed 16 Americans," said Mujahid.

"Samiullah was our man. He exploded his vest among CIA officers and killed 16 of them," he said.

The Pentagon said the base was close to the border with Pakistan, but has refused to comment on US media reports that the dead were all CIA agents.

The Washington Post newspaper said most of the eight probably worked for the CIA, which it said was using the Chapman base.

A suicide bomber managed to penetrate the base's defences, detonating an explosives belt in a room described as a base gym.

The attack appeared to have killed more US intelligence personnel than have died since the US-led invasion in 2001, it said, adding the agency has acknowledged the deaths of four CIA officers in Afghanistan since then.

Afghan defence ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said Taliban claims that the suicide bomber was an army officer were baseless.

"We did not have forces in that camp. It can be only an allegation," he said.

The United States said last month it had doubled the number of civilian experts working in Afghanistan and was "on track" to meet its goal of nearly 1,000 by the new year.

Many are to work in provincial military bases alongside military reconstruction teams.

"They don't necessarily increase the security threat but as numbers of troops and civilians increase so will the number of attacks -- so percentage wise there will be more incidents," said a senior Western military official.

"What we're not reporting is the number of insurgent deaths and casualties, which is going through the roof," he added on condition of anonymity.

The five Canadians were killed in a roadside bombing in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, said General Daniel Menard, the head of Canadian forces in the country.

Public television station CBC identified the journalist as Michelle Lang, a reporter with the Calgary Herald.

The deaths raised to 138 the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Canada has some 2,800 troops deployed in the Kandahar region, due to return home in 2011.

Afghan authorities said Thursday they were investigating reports of civilian deaths in a foreign forces air strike in Helmand province.

The probe was launched after reports that nine civilians were killed in a NATO air strike near the town of Lashkar Gah.

Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for Helmand's provincial Governor Gulab Mangal said civilians were killed in the bombing on Wednesday, but had no details.

"We know civilians have been killed but we don't know how many. The governor has sent a delegation to the area to provide some cash support to the victims' families and investigate the incident," Ahmadi said.

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